Sunday, June 15, 2008

I am so thankful for my husband and the father he is to our children. I remember when I told him that I was pregnant with Robbie. His eyes got real big and you could see his mind rapidly sorting through all of the logistics of being a dad. He was pretty overwhelmed.

Then Robbie was born, and he was forever changed! From that moment, Bob made his family his first priority. Being an attorney, Bob's schedule was long and stressful. But he made sure that he seldom (very seldom) worked weekends and was home in the evenings with time to spend with Robbie before bedtime.

Those two had tons of fun together - shopping for hats for their big heads, and riding bikes!

I believe this was a gift from God. Bob will tell you himself that this did not come naturally. He is a very driven and ambitious person. And to purposefully stop work early or put off work on the weekends was not something that would have come easily to him. But, I feel, the Lord was preparing Bob (and me) to live a life completely committed to Robbie -- holding nothing back, reserving nothing for the future -- so we would have no regrets.

Bob loves his little princess Eveley too. There's no denying her genes. I call her Bob's twin daughter. Robbie looked like my side of the family. Eveley is all her daddy! She has stolen a piece of his heart!

I am also very thankful for my dad. He's the best! If you asked my siblings how they would describe him, I think they would all say - fun! Dad is tons of fun.

He loved to take us on "Papa's picnics" on Saturdays where we would drive to some "secret" location to explore. But they all ended up with a fun treat - dinner or ice cream. And I'll never forget the money tree when I was in junior high. I had gone through a major growth spurt. Over the summer, I had gone from a little, petite squirt to a gangly 5'8" junior higher. I went to a private school with dress code restrictions and had nothing to wear. (We did not wear uniforms which would have made things much simpler.) As I would complain about my situation, my dad would say, "Honey, money doesn't grow on trees. You'll have to pray about it." One day, I came home from school. As I walked to the front door, I noticed that the Japanese Maple had 3 $100 bills hanging from it. That was a gift from my dad so I could go buy clothes for school. I know it was a huge sacrifice but he gladly made it for his daughter's needs (and wants). He has done that for years.